Monday, June 17, 2013

Today in 'The Price Is Right' was engaged couple day. For
one of the prizes the couple got a paid wedding to Aruba and they got to invite
up to 22 guests. The future bride turns around to the audience and starts
pointing randomly and say "You're invited, you're invited and then adds
all of you are invited."

Now the mystery writer in me thinks what if....that they
really did invite people from the audience they just met and didn't know and
what would happen if a killer was among the wedding guest? Now wouldn't this make
an awesome mystery?

Okay I might have been reading and writing mysteries too
long but that was my first thought. LOL

Friday, June 14, 2013

What are your weekend plans? What are you looking forward to
this week? I am home for a few days so I am looking forward to seeing my sister
and hopefully a friend. I am also looking forward to the peace and quiet away
from 12 year olds and 5 years olds plus their friends. LOL

What are you reading?

I am reading DEAD, WHITE and BLUE. Plus VELVET CUPCAKE
MURDERS plus still reading A FULL DARK HOUSE and CASUAL VACANCY. Toe be quite
honest I am looking forward to finishing reading some of these books.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Found this book on the new shelves at the library. Had never heard of the series ("Miss Information technology") or the author.

Emma has a job where she and her team transfer data from one system to another as part of buyouts or acquisitions. Fascinating idea of a job with lots of craziness bound to happen and ill-feelings everywhere. But it isn't at her job, that she found a body (well, this time anyway...), it is in her apartment building. Her neighbor Laguna has been murdered with her own protest sign shoved through her chest and Emma's land lady Magda is suspected of the crime. So she tries to solve the case, by infiltrating Laguna's Lime-O organization. Which has the horrible way of identifying its members by having them wear lime green.

The motive was interesting and I had no real ideas as it unfolded but it made sense in the end.

This book was lots of fun and very funny with wonderful, interesting characters. One of my favorites this year.

Riga Hayworth is a paranormal detective who is getting married. At her party, she discovers the dead body of her photographer in her bedroom. And things only get stranger when she finds the body is now up and walking about and inhabited by her fiance's soul. And not to mention, she is being stalked by a mobster and her aunts are necromancers. And her magic is mis-firing these days.. And she has to sort it all and fix things. A delightfully fun read!

I loved Riga's thoughts as she tries to wrap her head around what is happening and piece the puzzle together. Her frustration with the aunts and annoyance with Vasily felt real to me. And when the pieces start falling into place it felt very satisfying. I definitely need to go back and read the first three in this series now.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Before
I get into the topic of this month’s blog, let me say that something great
happened: I have a new audiobook available! Wheeeee! This one is SIERRA RANSOM.
It’s an historical romance novel set during the California Gold Rush in 1852 or
thereabouts. It features Zenobia Gray and Sam Ransom. It’s narrated by my very
OLD friend, Jim Hull, and he’s good. The book’s good, too. Honest! Here’s the
cover and where you can buy it:

Now.
Down to business. This month’s blog is on the frustrating topic: Why does
everything happen at once? Naturally, I’m talking about my own life here, but
I’ll bet I’m not the only one to whom this happens.

For
months, I’ve been twiddling my thumbs, begging for work, writing bits and
pieces of my own book, and wishing I had work that I actually got paid to do. I know not all writers write
the same way. Some can sit all day long, writing and writing and writing. I can
write for about an hour or an hour and a half, and that’s it. The well’s dry.
Mind you, I can pump out five-ten pages in that hour, and I wish I could write
all day long. Heck, if I could, I could write a billion books a year. Well,
maybe not quite a billion, and I’d still be unable to make a living at it, but
my output would increase significantly.

No,
I make most of my money from editing. I edit for a well-respected publishing
company, but I can make real money
from folks who can afford to have their books edited by a competent editor
before they self-publish. There aren’t many people who want to do this, because
nobody likes spending money. And there are more iffy editors out there than
there are good ones. I’m a good one. This isn’t a boast. It’s the truth.
There’s only one thing I do well in this world, and it’s use the English
language. Well, and collect stray dachshunds, but that’s more of a curse than a
blessing.

This
year, things have been dry. Dry, dry, dry. I live in Roswell, New Mexico, and
we’re halfway into our third year of the worst drought ever. That’s bad enough,
but this year too, nobody’s wanted me to do any work. NOBODY. Not the publisher
and not individuals. No one. Zero. Zilch.

Until
May. Then EVERYONE decided they wanted me to edit their books. I was thrilled
to death when the first person approached me. She had written what may well be
the World’s Longest Book, and she wanted me to edit it. Wheee! I could go to
California for my—wait for it—50th!—high school reunion! Wow. Then
another person asked me to edit his book. His isn’t the World’s Longest Book,
because, after all, there can only be one of those, but it’s real, live, paying
work.

Then
the publisher for whom I work suddenly wanted me to edit four books. And the
company (ePublishing Works) I’m using to repackage and promote my first six
Daisy Gumm Majesty novels sent me the first book (STRONG SPIRITS) to review.
With the promise that the other five Daisy books will be sent to me at
approximately twenty-day intervals.

Then
there were the two Roswell Humane Society meetings I had to attend, weekly
choir practice, and rehearsals for 2013’s Concert of American Music, which
we’ll be singing on June 30. Rehearsals began—you got it—last week.

Gulp.
So okay. I’ve been really busy lately, and I’m going to be even busier before I
leave for California and my reunion on June 19th. But, what the
heck, in the life of a writer/editor, I guess it’s better to be busy than not,
although sometimes I do wish things would even out. Ya know?

Please
enter my contest this month, during which I’ll be giving away a couple of
copies of FALLEN ANGELS, Mercy Allcutt’s third adventure (which won the New
Mexico/Arizona Book of the Year Award for mystery/suspense). And what the heck,
I’ll give away an audio copy of SIERRA RANSOM, too. Feel free to visit my web
site: www.aliceduncan.net and my Facebook
page: https://www.facebook.com/alice.duncan.925?ref=tn_tnmn

Enjoy some Mayhem & Magic!

Our blog is meant to evoke fun with the magic of myths, folklore, movies and the mayhem of murder and madness. We have to keep it interesting so if you like different genres of movies and books then you're at the right blog. Our authors are a wide range of experts and our readers know what is top of the line in their favorite genres. Sometimes we post recipes that might be fun to try if a culinary author has one in her book that we think is especially yummy or one that Terri and I have created and want to share with you. Enjoy Guest Blogger Alice Duncan's monthly muse on her books and writing mysteries.

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